I just finished reading Novella Carpenter's Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer. It is due back at the library tomorrow, with a number of other books, and I'm working hard to actually turn books in on time, so others might have a chance to enjoy them also. (When we were reading aloud In Defense of Food, I actually finished reading it in the library parking lot, right next to the book drop.)
I can't remember where I came across mention of Carpenter's book, but I'm glad I did. I think I might read this again one day. At first, I thought the narrative jumped around too much, often taking a short trip back to tell a new little story, but as I hurried to finish the book as the due date loomed near, I didn't feel like reading this was a chore. I enjoyed it. Even when I was trying not to gag as she describes the killing and preparing of her various animals for food. (I've often said to Cardo that if I had to kill animals so that we could eat meat, we'd be vegetarians. I don't think I have it in my to hunt/raise animals and then kill them. If I were ever in some kind of Man Versus Wild situation in which I had to kill my own dinner, I'd probably die. As it is, I just try to not eat too much meat.)
Anyhow, I ended up really enjoying the book. And, I've become reinspired to, when we finally, finally one day have a house, raise chickens (for eggs, of course, unless someone else wants to come over and chop their heads off and do all the other preparing for me) and keep bees. (There, I've said it. I've only ever confessed these little fantasies to Cardo. Laugh if you will. I like to dream about the future, and I tend to get idealistic.)
So, tomorrow, I'll return Farm City and, I hope, pick up The Children's Book by A. S. Byatt. I'm next in line on the waiting list for that one. After that? It's coming up to my turn for one of my guilty pleasures: totally nonserious, nonacademic, nonnon-fiction (got that?) mysteries.
What else? I'm not sure where to go after that. No doubt I'll check out some more children's literature. I'm making up for lost time. I feel like I went from Clifford and Berenstain Bears and Ramona to Little Women and Are You There God? It's Me Margaret and Lois Lowery to Dean Koontz and Steven King, passing by oh-so-many great opportunities along the way. Oh, if only I could stop time and all other activity and read, read, read...my heart would burst with joy!
As for Pic, we are on a dog theme this week. She is fairly obsessed with dogs. There really wasn't much in the Juvenile non-fiction section on dogs, especially compared to the entire shelf devoted to cats, so I only picked up one DK Eyewitness Book on Dogs. Pic loves Susan Meddaugh's Martha (who has been animated for PBS Kids), so we also got Perfectly Martha. I picked up The Adventures of Taxi Dog, which I remembered from a Reading Rainbow...and I also picked up that episode of Reading Rainbow. (I also seem to remember something like Doggy News from Reading Rainbow, so I'll have to try to find that on our next library visit.) We got a couple of other books, too, including one we read today: The Very Kind Rich Lady and Her One Hundred Dogs. We both enjoyed this. It's very simple. I think that in 'regular' schools (ones not housed at my dining room table), elementary teachers sometimes do a 100th Day celebration for the 100th day of school, and this might work for that. We also have plenty of Clifford books and let's definitely not forget Go, Dog. Go!
So, what are you all reading right now?
Monday, November 23, 2009
books, glorious books
Posted by v at 23:58
Labels: glorious books, library, the mighty linkdom
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3 comments:
Oh, I love Go, Dog, Go!. I don't know if all of the editions of it have similar illustrations, but the one I had as kid showed, at the end, that the dog was a gift for the boy but had escaped. So, while the boy was shooing away the dog, not knowing it was his, and he was telling the dog he didn't like dogs, the dog was actually his the entire time. I used to think that was both funny and sad, all at once...
I just finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, even though I know I should not be reading anything outside of my reading list.
I grew up on a small (tiny) farm in which we raised and butchered all our own food. We had an Organic garden, chickens, ducks, rabbits, goats, and sometimes pigs for food. I participated in the butchering process and it was really difficult. I was a vegetarian and then a vegan for years. Since then I have returned to eating meat. But,that past has made me very spiritual about food. I always thank the animals for providing meals for me and I try really hard to prepare meat thoughtfully because I know that there was a literal sacrifice made for my benefit. I too nurture fantasies about returning to that life someday.
I am reading Jane Austen (see my blog). All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot--Who writes dog stories by the way-- And two books for next semester Hunger Memory by Richard Rodrigues and Lives on the Boundary by Mike Rose
Another good dog book for Pic is Dear Mrs. LaRue. It's about a dog who write highly exaggerated letters to his owner. Very funny.
I just picked up The Lovely Bones and hope to find time to read it while we're visiting Mike's family this weekend. Ah how nice it will be to have people that want to hold and cuddle and play with the baby so I can have some me time without feeling guilty. :)
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